Rune Factory Frontier: Of Wind and Rain
by Winter's ice
Summary: Like the wind she flow through the village of Trampoli, through all the elements. Through the rain, sun, snow, you name it, she did it. Though, after running through a bad storm one morning, and later coming down with a simple cold, it's Raguna's job to look after the sick mail girl, but will something become more apparent, like Raguna noticing the feelings she has for him?


**Well, I felt like doing a one-shot for Frontier, and this actually took me longer than I thought it would, I mean, I wrote this one out like a year ago and I'm just now getting to edit it, so, here it is, hope you enjoy!**

* * *

**Of Wind and Rain**

Pitter, patter, pitter, patter; now that was the sound that was currently being reverberated on the wooden rooftop that rainy, and cold late fall day. It was hitting the roof without any signs of letting up, along with no remorse for the owner of said home. It was late that previous evening when this sudden storm hit the small village, and luckily, our main lead managed to get home before the rain began. The strong wind was currently slamming itself against the windows of his large home, and the sound it was making was loud, and somewhat creepy. The time of the present day was 6:16 in the morning, and inside the house, which the rain and wind was attacking without signs of remorse, was a young man with brown hair. He was staring threw his window from his down stairs room, which counted as his kitchen, dinning room, and his little workshop areas. He saw the power of the rain, though it was not as strong as the day before, but it was still going as strong as it could. The land outside of his house was beyond totally soaked, if the land could talk, it would probably ask for it to stop raining too. The rich soil that held his many crops was over run by all of this rain, but of course he wasn't complaining about that part, it saved him the trouble of actually watering them. Unfortunately though, many of his crops had already died from the over amount of water it was given, plus all of that mud didn't help either, so this really wasn't really working for his own benefits. It wasn't good for neither the crops, nor him, for if too many of his crops die, by the time winter comes around, he's going to be much lower on his funds, and that's never good for a farmer. And low funds meant he would have to relay on fishing at the lake in the freezing weather, and then probably getting sick and getting an ears worth of scolding from Lara, the local nurse/nun. Either that, or he would just wander off to one of the dungeons and collect things from the monsters and sell them off.

He sighed; he had so much work to do now, that's just great. Sure, it was raining for a few days before this, but at least then he could actually do work in the light rain, but this would be a pain. The rain was coming down so fast it was actually hard to see outside, but not as bad as the previous day, but it's still going to be a pain. He did have the proper clothing to finish his work in this weather though. After all, he couldn't let the fresh vegetables die, now could he?

"I could just wait till later," mumbled the man, Raguna, who has no memories of his past, while turning his head back in the direction of the window. He could just wait till later and see if the weather may clear up. On the other hand, he could end up being screwed by the weather getting worse. From the amount of work he had to do, it would take a good few hours, maybe six at best if he worked at full speed.

"I really shouldn't plant the whole area basically, it just ends up being too much trouble," mumbled Raguna, and it was true. He did always did go overboard with the plants, and it started off easy. Sure, it was simple when all your doing is watering little seeds, but when they grow, they take forever to collect. He could use monsters if he wanted too, but if course he didn't think that was fair, for he wanted to do the work himself, and not with the help of any of them, for what type of farmer would he be? So, from not wanting to have monsters do his own work, and working way over board is the reason he was caught in this mess.

"So, what should I do?" mumbled Raguna, while rubbing the back of his face, but then, suddenly, caught something from the side of his eye caused him to snap out of his thoughts. He saw something red; a bright red strike was running towards his home as fast as lighting crashing on the ground. The person with bright blond hair tied in two messy braids, who was relatively short just pulled up to his mailbox. She quickly grabbed a letter in a red envelope, and pushed it in as fast as she could while trying to shield it from the downpour. As soon as she placed it in, she began to run slowly past his home, but she didn't get very far as she felt a hand grab her arm.

"Anette, why are you running around in the rain without an umbrella?" asked the man, Raguna, who quickly without thinking of course, went out of his house, into the downpour of rain, and grabbed the petite girl's arm.

"Huh, Raguna?" asked the blond mail girl, turning her head to the blue eyed farmer who out of nowhere just grabbed her arm, "What is it?"

"Anette, shouldn't you have an umbrella or something? Couldn't you get a cold running around in the rain?" asked Raguna, with a concerned tone in his soft voice. He looked down at the girl, she was completely soaked and didn't seem to care much. Sure, he seen her run around when it was raining before, but this time was…different.

"Huh? Oh, that. It's no big deal, I do this all the time!" responded the girl with a smile on her face, "It doesn't bother me that much any way, and my job is too important to me. I can't let a little rain slow me down!"

Raguna smiled at that, she's willing to do anything to make sure the job gets down, it was cute, "Okay then, just make sure you dry yourself off when you get done," spoke Raguna with a caring tone, he always watch out for the people in the village.

"Alright, I'll make sure to do that!" she replied happily with a smile on her small and wet face, she was actually joyful to see how much he cared for her. It made her feel happy and warm inside to know she had someone who truly cared for her well being, maybe he actually_… "No, no, no! Stop thinking that right now!" _she thought, while shaking her head, causing Raguna to look at her quizzically, _"He just doesn't want me to get sick and collapse on his front steps again! He probably…but maybe…," _she continued to think while her face was getting red. As you can see, the girl has feelings for the main lead (Like almost everyone else) and her thoughts where starting to buzz around her head like little bees. It appeared she was contradicting herself about it, for in her mind she thought he might like her, but then quickly changed the point of it to something else. Oh, like that one time she tried to ask if he liked her, but was so embarrassed she ended up asking if he like melons. Of course Raguna thought nothing of the way she acting and just said they where good.

"Anette, are you sure you are okay?" asked Raguna, who apparently moved in closer to the girl who was currently off in her own little world. He ducked his head in close and put his hand on her forehead, to make sure that she wasn't already getting sick, who knows how far she has to go to pick up the mail in the morning, nor how early she gets up to do so. One day, he really needs to ask her about that, just where is the post office around here? This little action of his though, caused her to jump a little and she couldn't move back for he was still holding onto her arm, of course he didn't notice for his brain was currently on a separate subject.

"Well, you feel a little warm, are you sure alright? Maybe you should come inside and dry off a little before you go back to work," spoke Raguna with a look of concern in his crystal blue eyes, which radiated a swift and strong color. Looking into his eyes was like looking at the crisp blue sea, and it had the same calming effect that made people stare into the sea, watching it's calming waves, while never wanting to look away.

"Anette?" asked Raguna while turning his head to the side, if they where going to talk like this, she should just come inside, it's much easier.

"Huh?" shouted Anette coming out of her trance, "Oh, I'm fine, really!" shouted the girl again, her face still a bit red from some embarrassment.

"Alright then, just make sure to take care of yourself, okay?" asked Raguna, turning his head to the side again, with his caring eyes. He then let go of her small arm, and went up to her hat and goggle equipped covered head and placed his hand on top of it, "If you start to feel bad, make sure to go see Lara, okay?"

"Okay, and you don't worry, I'm not a child," she said with a small pout on her face, she can take care of herself! "I hope you have a great day Raguna!" shouted the blond mail girl, who after Raguna removed his arm from atop of her hat covered head; she speeded off in the direction to Mist's house, where she was currently boarding at.

"Just be careful and don't fall!" yelled Raguna, still in his spot. If she would go too fast on a muddy part of the ground, she could slip and fall flat on her face, and he wouldn't want that to happen to her.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine!" she replied, she knew how to run and be careful, it is her profession after all, if she wasn't good at it, why would she be doing it in the first place?

After she was out of his sight, something just dawned on the boy, the whole time he was talking to her, they where standing in the rain, and he sighed, guess he'll end up working after all.

"Oh well, might as well get to work," he mumbled to himself while placing his hand on the side of his head while looking up to the sky. It held that dark and dreary color the sky always had when it was a downpour, oh how he wished for the sun to come out. After staring at the taunting sky, he turned his body towards his field while grabbing his sickle out of his rucksack and started to cut the dead plants and tossing them to the side, while looking at all the other crops he had to take down.

"This is going to take awhile, maybe even longer than I originally thought," mumbled the boy, while walking towards the other dead crops. Yup, a long time indeed…

* * *

"Well, that takes care of that," spoke Raguna wiping his forehead that had mud on it, rising from the ground after taking care of the last of his crops. It was finally clear of excess wood, stones, dead crops, weeds, and even color grass, which he collected so he could make some relax tea later. It was good as new, except he lost out on profits, but that was all right, he still had other things to do, like search for ores, or go fishing. He could easily make up on the lose funds, so it's not like he was going to starve to death anytime soon. Well, he could also just go on an adventure and go fight some monsters, and get items from them and then create some high level items and sell them off; he usually did get a good sum for his items. Or he could just go to the bathhouse and do all of this stuff later.

Yeah, that was what he definitely had to do, for he was smelling like a wet dog, but he was like one for being stuck outside. For, about two hours and half later, the rain deiced to stop, the sun came out, and he was completely soaked. Then, he continued to work in that weather, without drying off for he wanted to get done some century, and with sweat dripping from his forehead to the rest of his well built body, mixed with his soggy clothes. Well, you can guess that when you add those two things together, they don't exactly make the best smell in the entire world, he smelled terrible to say the least. That, and he was cover in mud and dirt, though he managed to clean his clothes off, his body was another story.

_"Well, guess I better do that before doing anything else,"_ he though, it was only two and the bath doesn't open till three, so he had an hour to kill. It wouldn't be the best idea to walk around town and help out some of his friends while smelling like this, and he didn't feel like fighting any monsters feeling like a soggy towel. Well, good thing for him, he could probably bribe the witch-want-to-be with some relax tea, _"I guess I could give it a shot,"_ and so he went inside his house.

Inside, he cut up all the different tealeaves, which he cooked into the tea, good thing he kept all that color grass that was laying around his field. So, as quickly as he came in, he left for the bathhouse, and of course he didn't check his mail, oh, what problems could this cause? So, our main lead walked down the church district, and on the way down, he ran into Mist, standing in the middle of the road, holding some strange box, just like a few other times, why does she do this? Wait, its Mist, of course…

"Hello Raguna. How are you?" asked Mist with her usual airhead voice.

"Hi Mist," replied Raguna while waving his left hand, he didn't want to talk with her right now, for the reason he felt so dirty, and knowing her, she would go on and on about nothing, well, except for maybe turnips or her pet monster duck, Torte. Mist is probably the queen of going on tangents, one minute on one subject, the next something completely different; she was such an odd girl, but maybe that's why he thinks of her as a good friend, even though how strange that sounded. Though, he was indebted to her for saving his life that fateful day back in Kardia.

"Raguna, why do you smell like a wet wooly? Even Torte smells better than you do," asked Mist, turning her head; apparently he was going to have to talk to her. Either this was going to be a quick conversation, or one that wouldn't stop for Mist didn't seem to have a mute button. Truly, that was such an unconvinced thing, for Raguna couldn't just leave while she was still going on about either nothing or turnips, it would be rude and Mist still has feelings.

"Oh, I was working in the rain, then it started to stop and the sun came out, I started to sweat…and it doesn't mix well," why was he even telling her this?  
"Why did you work in the rain Raguna?" asked Mist again, turning her head to the right, "It's not spring, so there aren't any turnips to take care of."

"Well, I saw Anette running around in the rain and I," began Raguna, and then stopped. That's right this whole thing started when he talked to her before, _"Is she alright? Could she have- Oh great I'm turning into Lara,"_ thought Raguna while raising a hand to his face and sighing, he was worried, but no one gets sick in only one day, though it could possibly happen, so he still wants to make sure she's fine.

"Hey, Mist, could you keep an eye on Anette? If she starts acting sick or anything, tell me, okay?" he asked her, with concern in his voice, Mist might have a lot, really a lot of brain damage, but she was still a good person. She would always take care of her friends if she had to. Sure, all they would be eating for days would be turnip dishes, but that's better than…well, some things.

"Alright. You know Raguna, you're a really a kind person, and how you always worry about everybody you know," replied Mist in her usual tone; she seemed to be acting like a normal person. Sure, she did have her moments, but at times, it seemed a little creepy.

"Thanks Mist," spoke Raguna while rubbing the back of his head, with a smile on his face, he could relay on her, most of the time that is.

"Oh yeah, and in return, could you give me some turnips? A lot of them?" asked Mist in a stern voice, along with a serious look in her eyes, but despite that serious look, she still managed to look cute.

"Sure," mumbled Raguna with a low sigh, of course she wants something to do with turnips, but it's not a problem, he could get them for her. Ahh, no matter how long you know someone, they really never change, now do they?

With that, Raguna said his farewell, and off he went again, and he soon arrived right in front of the hot springs/bathhouse. He quickly walked inside, and heared the scrubbing of a large deck brush against the floor echoing. He walked over to the women's side, to find the wizard and bath loving girl busy preparing the baths like she did everyday. She was pulling and pushing the brush, scrubbing the ground clean, to the point would be sparkling, her love for her baths was shown in how much she took care of them. He noted though, she was always trying to keep the girl's side clean, but she never really worked on the guy's side, or maybe it only seemed that way whenever he stopped by, or perhaps for there are more girls in the village then guys.

"Hey there Melody," spoke Raguna as he walked up to the entrance of the bath.

"Huh? Oh, hi Raguna!" shouted the pink haired girl happily while raising her head, with her strange hat bouncing upwards a bit, "What do you need?"

"Well, you see-," began Raguna, but was quickly cut off when the bathhouse owner just randomly came up to him, as fast as a lioness hunting down it's dinner, letting her brush fall, while putting her face near his and sniffing him. It had to be the creepiest thing he ever saw someone do, especially in this weird place.

"Gahh!" hollered the pink haired girl who jumped backwards from him, with terror in her eyes, "You smell terrible! What were you doing, playing in the mud in the rain? Or did you take a bath in a really bad hot spring?"

"Well, you see," began Raguna, but was quickly cut off by Melody who grabbed him by the arm, and started to pull him forward, "Melody, what are you doing?" asked the boy, surprised by her actions, but it made sense, she really does hate dirty things.

"I'm making you take a bath, if you want to or not! I won't let you come in here smelling like a goblin!" shouted the girl while pushing him inside the men's side, "I don't want to see you until your squeaky clean, you hear me?" she declared at him in a stern tone, like a mother yelling at her son who hates taking baths, yup, keeping people clean is her mission.

"I…I got it Melody, but that's why I came in the first place," began Raguna, gaining a surprised look from the bathhouse owner, "So, thanks for letting me take a bath before hours," and with that he pulled out the relax tea, which some how didn't spill and gave it too her.

"Wow, relax tea, my favorite! Thanks, I love you!" hollered the girl happily, about to give him a hug, but stopped mid way, "I would give you a hug, but I don't want to get any dirt on me," typical girl.

With that she turned around happily to go back to her cleaning, and letting him to his bath, while thinking, _"There's always another day."_

And so, the boy entered the bath, washed himself, and of course, relaxed. Sure, he shouldn't stay in too long, for he would probably faint from the heat, and then Melody would probably yell at him, like the few other times he fainted after eavesdropping on some of the girls. Though it was unintended, he always some how couldn't pull himself away from the bath. For the girls would say some…strange things from time to time, well, that was mostly Mist and Selphy who could pull that off. Most of the conversations he overheard weren't really that interesting, though he learned some _interesting _things. Well, such as the girls and their, well, assets, and if he would go in any more detail, the rating on this fic would be much higher.

"_I guess that's good for the day," _thought Raguna while rising from his sitting position, and walked over to grab a towel to dry off his now clean, and non smelly well-built body, and his shiny brown hair. He dressed quickly, putting on his usual clothing attire. As he exited, he saw Nolen and his little cat on his shoulder standing around, doing nothing, like he usually did. Just way he stood around this place all day long confused him, did he have no where else to go during this time of day? What a strange old guy. After saying a quick hello, he walked to the door and ready to leave, but he suddenly felt someone jump onto his back.

"That's good Raguna, you smell as fresh as a newly grown flower!" yelled the wizard-loving girl in her usual cheery tone, while thinking, _"And I got that hug!"_

"Oh, I guess that's good. Melody, could you please get off of me now?" asked the boy, with a little bit of red tinting his face from the surprised back hug.

"Huh? Oh, sure," replied Melody in a little disappointed tone while getting off his back, while saying in a happy tone, "Make sure to come by any time you want!" After that she turned her head towards where Nolan was, who was giving her a little smile, which cause her to give him a, "What?" look, good thing Raguna didn't notice.

So, Raguna left the bathhouse and was almost to go home, when he caught something in the corner of his crystal blue eyes. He saw a familiar bright red outfit, which was currently sitting on a ledge to the right of his current location. He walked over to where the figure was sitting, and asked, "How are you?"

The figure turned her baby like face to the person to see a caring, calm face, "Oh, I'm fine, thanks Raguna," spoke the female with a soft smile on her face.

"Are you sure Anette?" asked Raguna, looking down at the local mail girl. Her face didn't look much different then it usually doses, but it did look a little paler than usually, and that wasn't his imagination.

"Yeah, I feel fine!" replied the small girl with a smile on her face; it was nice to know how much he was worrying about her. Sure, she did feel a little tired, but probably wasn't much of a big deal, she was probably tired from all her work. Besides, she didn't want to worry him too much like last time; it would just cause him too much trouble.

"Are you sure? You don't look all that great," spoke Raguna, in his usual, kind voice. It seemed he felt that he should look out for her, like a big brother would take care of his little sister. It just seemed like something he had to do, no matter what. It was his typical kindness, or was it something more?

Of course it couldn't be because of such a thing, he would do this for anyone of his friends close to him, it's not like he was giving her any special treatment or anything. He wanted to make sure nothing bad happened to her, it's not like he had any type of feel-"Raguna? Hello, Raguna? Are you still here with me?"

"H-huh? Yes, Anette?" asked Raguna, with her sweet little voice snapping him out of his thoughts, which caused a strike of light red to shade his face.

"Hahaha, now are you the one feeling sick? Your acting weird," joked the petite mail carrier with a smile on her face, it was cute the way she flipped the chessboard around about the sick question.

And of course now there was absolute silence, it appeared that a subject change was in order since she didn't seem that bad, "Say, Anette, would you-Hey, Anette?" began Raguna as he was about to change the subject to something else when he noticed something odd about the girl on the ledge, it appeared that she was holding the side of her head, while looking down at the rushing water under her feet, this doesn't look good.

"You know, I think I'll take your advice now," began Anette as she moved herself around so that she could put her legs on the ledge and stand up, and that she did just that.

"I knew this was going to happan, come on, I'll take you to see Lara," commented Raguna, walking closer to the girl putting out his hand towards her to assist her down, he knew that this would happen, all thanks to his instinct, that's his gut for you.

"Thank you Raguna, I should have list-," and right there and then, it appeared that time just froze. It appeared that, while trying to get down, the small girl managed to trip over her own feet and instead of falling forewords, she began to fall backwards from her unableness of regaining her balance. Oh, this isn't happening, is it?

And so, it appeared that time just began to slowly freeze right in front of his eyes. The glass box containing the scene was breaking, cracking, with every millisecond that passed. A _friend _was falling downwards into a stream of water in which he had no clue where it lead to, a _person _that is very close to him, a _girl _that is very close to his heart, "Anette!"

That was what he shouted as he quickly ran over, she certainly wouldn't die from a fall from this height, but still she could, and who knows where she would end up if she did fall, _"Don't think about that!" _With that thought going through his mind, he placed his hand on the ledge, reached down with the other hand, and as fast as the wind, he grabbed the petite hand of the very, if not the _mos_, important person in his life since he arrived in Trampoli.

"Anette, hold on, okay? I will get you up!" shouted Raguna, with determination in his voice, but his eyes spoke another story, a one much sadder then he hopped for. His eyes spoke of _deathly_ fear which was rushing through him like a violent wind, like the wind and rain that caused this event to happen in the first fate, darn that accursed fate!

"R-Raguna," began the small girl who was holding onto his hand for dear life, with terror in her eyes, "Don't drop me, okay?" she said in an unsteady tone, while trying to keep calm in this situation. If he would let go of her hand, she'll be done for. Oh, she is way too young to die! She has things she wants to do, like continue her job, find out how Raguna feels about her, and then maybe get married, and more!

"Why would I? I'm not the type of person who would just abandon his friends in a time of need, especially in a case where you could-," and before he could go on that word reverberated throughout his mind like a ragging hurricane, a word that would mean that the existence that he knew would cease to remain. He didn't want to think about such a thing, he never wanted to, ever, for that word frightened him to no end.

"Uh, Raguna, hello? I'm kind of dangling here and all. So, um, could you pull me up now? I don't feel like falling and all," mumbled the dangling body that was still trying to remain calm under the pressure of this terrible situation, thought it really was a bad time for Raguna to go into internal monologue.

"Your right, sorry," spoke Raguna in a solemn tone, he hated that he even thought such a thing while Anette was hanging onto him for dear life, "Okay, Anette move up your other arm," he told the smaller figure, looking straight into her fear filled eyes, the eyes that was meant to be filled with happiness and cheerfulness, not this.

"Okay," replied the girl, and she did just what she was told. As soon as she did that, Raguna moved his other hand rather quickly from the ledge, and began to pull her up. It was a good thing she was so light, or perhaps he was stronger than he thought. Being a farmer was definitely a good thing, plus all those days of dungeon crawling and monster fighting also helped him, along with the amount of damage he did take from those things.

And so, Raguna managed to pull her up from her near death situation, but they kind of fell backwards (Raguna's fault this time) and they fell straight to the ground, with Raguna falling straight onto his butt. It appeared that from the weight and gravity caused this scene, or he's just a little bit clumsy, which could be plausible, or it may not even be accurate. The writer here hasn't had any classes on gravity, so she's just improvising! The only thing that wasn't caused by the event was the fact that Anette put her face into Raguna's chest, and her arms tightly wrapped around his back, as if she was still holding onto him for her life. He could tell she was shivering; she appeared just so weak fragile right now, that just didn't settle well with him.

"Anette, you're okay now, everything's aright now," spoke Raguna in a caring tone you would use with a frighten child, while wrapping his strong arms around her quivering small body, "It's alright, I'm right here with you. You don't have to be afraid now, I'm here," he said while trying to calm her down, he doesn't want to see her like this, she isn't suppose to be like this.

The two of them just sat there for a few moments in silence. He was holding onto her like a python, he didn't want to let her go in this weak state. She held onto him in the same fashion, crying into him, letting out all of the fear that was acquired by that freak accident. They sat there, with Raguna looking up at the now clear blue sky, the sky seemed so fine now, but thanks to the way it was before, Anette could've died. Raguna couldn't help but feel that the sun and sky was mocking him right now.

"Thank you Raguna," was what she finally mumbled into his chest, but then her head moved from his chest to show her face, her blue eyes filled with tears, and her child like face, puffy around the eyes, along with her face a little red, "Thank you very much Raguna."

"Your welcome," said Raguna sweetly while moving his face closer to hers, so that their foreheads where touching, "Your welcome Anette," was what he said again. He noted her face was going a darker shade of red, and not because of her temperature, which he noted was rather high, but because of how close his face was to hers. "Are you ready to go see Lara now?" he asked her in the same caring tone.

With a little sniffle, and after her moving her arms from his back to her face and rubbing her eyes she stood up, a bit wobbly on her feet and said, "Alright."

"Alright then," spoke Raguna while getting up and turning his back to Anette, though he didn't see it, she gave him a strange look, "How about I give you a piggy-back ride?" he said in a happy tone with a smile on his face, while he turned head to her, and laughed when he saw her face getting redder than before from his statement.

"I-I-I'm fine! I-I can walk Raguna!" stammered the now embarrassed girl, it's not like she can't walk, sure, she's a little shaken up, well, really shaken up, but still.

"Though from your unhealthy statues, you nearly fell into the stream if I recall," joked Raguna as he saw her head drop from his comment, at least the mood's lightening.

"Alright…," mumbled the girl in a defeated tone and walked up to his back and hoped on for a ride, though she felt goose bumps go up her spine when he grabbed her legs, she's now regretting her usual attire. She put her arms around his neck as he positioned her better on his back, and off they went to the Church District.

Carrying her wasn't much of a big deal she was light after all, but the uncomfortable atmosphere that was being created was kind of weird.

"Raguna?" asked the girl, her tone of voice still had a hint of shakiness.

"Yeah?" asked Raguna, wondering what was up.

"Do you think I'll be able to find my hat?" she asked to him in the same tone.

"Hmm, it'll turn up somewhere I bet, I'm sure of it," he replied, though he didn't even noticed that her usual hat was missing, he was too caught up in the whole event to really notice it. Hmm, where would it show up to anyway? That would be hard to figure out, just where does the stream lead to?

"I hope so, I love that hat, and my goggles too, it would be weird making deliveries without it," she added in, really, she needed them or they would screw up her body rhythm, for if even one thing was missing, it would be rather weird.

In no time flat they managed to reach the church, which also doubled as the infirmary for the small village. Raguna opened the door on the left side of the building, it gave off a small creek sound due to it's age, and saw the nurse, who also happens to be a nun, Lara, sitting behind the counter. The room was a decent size for the small village, two beds for patients, a rather bland room design, a shelf with bask medicines and herbs, and of course a counter and table. When she saw Raguna walk inside while carrying Anette on his back, she quickly stood up, placing her left hand on the counter top, and said in a concerned voice, "Raguna? What happened to Anette?"

"Hmm, where to begin?" began Raguna, he knew that with his explanation of the situation, Anette was going to get a long scolding, and that would make her mad at him, but it was for the best after all, "She was running around in the rain this morning without anything to keep her dry. She later decided to go on with her day and sit on a ledge, when a sudden strike of dizziness and fatigue struck her, and she fell backwards," he explained while making the event sound dramatic, "But I managed to grab her and then we came here so you could take care of her."

"Oh my," spoke Lara while moving her right hand under her chin, "That sounded terrible, Anette, how could you be so reckless? If Raguna wasn't there to save you, then you could have gotten yourself killed!" she said that with a serious tone, which a mother would use while scolding their child, she was really good at that. That was what Raguna liked best about her, she was always worrying about people, and tell them when they are in the wrong, and tell them how stupid they where for doing it in the first place. Raguna did know this from his own experience of course.

"I'm sorry, I didn't really think anything was going to happen, I felt fine most of the day so," replied the mail deliverer in a low tone, trying to hide her face from Lara, "I didn't think of stopping by. I really should have listened to Raguna, I'm sorry.

With that comment, Lara gave out a low sigh, "You know, you're turning into Raguna. I guess that happens when your around someone to long," was her little comment, she then went on to say, "Raguna, please place her down on the bed."

"Alright," and he followed her order like a solider bringing in a hurt ally from the battlefield. He turned his back towards the bed and lowered his back so she could get off. After her feet where touching the ground, she sat her behind onto the bed, and a creek noise of the bedsprings came forth.

Raguna moved out of the way so that Lara could do her job. She placed her hand on top of the figure sitting on the bed. After she pulled her hand away, she examined her facial features, her face seemed somewhat pale, and her eyes red and puffy, "I think she caught a quick cold. Nothing to serious, all she really needs is some medicine and sleep, it'll take away her temperature, along with her regaining her usual color, plus the redness would fade after some sleep too," explained Lara while walking over to the shelf with various items, and grabbed six packets, three in each hand. They looked like a small little packet with pills in them, about two in each of them, and she walked back to Raguna and handed him the medicine in her right hand, "She should take two a day, one in the morning, and one at night, but," she turned her head towards Anette, "Do you have a headache by any chance?"

"Yeah, a little," she replied.

"Then," she spoke while handing the other ones to him, "These will clear up any head problems, I would suggest that she would take one, but if it's really bad, she can take two," explained Lara, this was the most she has done in a good while, "Those will cost you about six hundred gold," though she shouldn't be thinking this, but at least she's making some money, the church seems to be in need of fixing in some parts.

"I have no money on me right now, but I can-," began Anette, but was stopped by Raguna, who placed down the medicine on the bed and began to pull out his wallet, and handed the money over. He then turned his head over to her and said in a sweet, yet stern tone, "I'll take of this, and before you ask, you don't have to pay me back and no worrying about it. The only thing you should be doing is getting better."

"Yes, he's right Anette, just focus on getting better," spoke Lara in the same stern tone while grabbing the money from him, "Oh yes, Raguna. I would think I can leave her in your hands," she said, "Not to be rude but, I don't quite trust Mist to take care of her. You know how she gets, you have had a first hand experience if I'm not mistaken."

"I completely agree with you," he said in a quick manner, remembering when he took his first steep towards his new life. When he reached Kardia, he collapsed right in front of Mist's home, and, unlike any other human who probably doesn't have brain damage of some sorts, when he asked for water, she just poured her watering can on top of his head. And for food, she gave him radish seeds, though he still wonders how she switched to turnips here, "I would think Anette would get worse than better."

"Yes, so I leave her in your good hands. Just make sure she eats and drinks the right foods, like soups to eat and juices or teas to drink," she added in, one couldn't just rely on medicine for everything.

"Um, can I have milk instead?" asked Anette, she didn't mind juice, but she likes milk a lot better, but it really didn't help with her height problem.

"Yes, that works too," replied Lara, oh, that girl and her milk. People really never change, now do they? Hmm, maybe she should look into getting her a buffamoo costume; it would fit her well after all.

"Well, thanks for your help Lara," spoke Raguna while grabbing the medicine and placing them into his rucksack and then turned his back towards Anette so she could hop on. Though she didn't look pleased with him, giving him a, "I can walk on my own face," but without a protest, she placed her feet onto the tile floor, and turned her head towards Lara, "Thanks for the help Lara," and then she placed her arms around his neck and jumped on, and he grabbed her legs. Oh yeah, there's that shiver coursing through her body again.

Afterwards, he said his thanks and began to walk down the dirt road towards his homestead. The whole area was engulfed in silence, not a bird nor a person making a single sound, peaceful and tranquil like any other day in this small quite place. Ahh, how nice. After reaching his homestead, the brunette male turned to the direction of his monster shed, and continued to walk down the path, the only thing that could be heard was the faint sound of the stream above them.

So, they reached the area of where Mist's home (Hmm, how did she come to own it anyway?) was in reach. The area was flourishing with withering green and crisp brown, the colors of summer and fall clashed together, but soon it would fall to the hands of snow with the oncoming of winter. Raguna pushed open the fence gate to reach the front yard of the house, and then proceeded to open the door to the house in which the girl on his back was currently residing in. The door gave off a small creek and he walked inside the simple home, which consisted of natural brown colors, much like the other homes in the area. He was expecting to encounter Mist, but to his surprise she wasn't there, hmm, what was she up to? Oh, well, he shouldn't be thinking about that right now, it's not like she was going to get herself into trouble…hopefully.

He turned to his left and walked towards the second door in the house and opened it to reveal just a simple and normal room. The only thing that had caught his eye was the mail carrier's usual mailbag, which was currently resting on a chair to the side of the room.

Raguna walked towards the bed, every step he took caused a creek to come forth from the wooden floorboards. When he reached the small single bed he turned his back towards it so Anette could lower herself to the ground, and she did just that. After the weight on his back vanished, he turned around and looked at the smaller blond haired girl that reminded him of a cute little kitten. After giving her a cute little smile, he moved his hand to his bag and pulled out both of the medicines and placed them on the nightstand and spoke in a stern tone, "For now get some sleep, I'll give you your medicine later, alright?" with those words, something went through his mind, _"I would make a great dad! I shouldn't be thinking that right now."_

"I got it Raguna," she said to him, it's nice to know he's worried, but it's not like she's incompetent or anything! She knows how to take care of herself; she's done it before! After that little mental complaint, she turned her head to the side, her eyes looking down at the floor with a slight blush on her face, "I need to change my clothes first, so could you please leave the room?"

Raguna just nodded his head and began to turn his body to leave the room when he heard her say, "And don't you dare try to peek in," in a serious tone. Raguna just turned his head to her and shrugged, "I'm a gentleman, I would never do so," and stopped speaking until he reached the door and placed his hand on the knob and began to open the door, "It's not like you have anything to really look at anyway," he said in a playful tone. Anette just replied back with a, "Hey!" and though he couldn't see it, he guessed she was blushing, and closed the door. The last thing he heard was, "You don't have to be mean, it's not my fault I'm so small!"

With Raguna's back against the door, he just looked up to the ceiling, his mind just a simple blank. So then, the only thing he had to do is stay till it was about ten, give her the medicine, and then come in the morning to give her the other. No, he didn't have to do that; she could take care of herself. Though, something was telling him to take care of her, his heart was commanding him to do so, and he had no reason to object.

"Raguna, you can come in," she said through the door. Raguna just moved himself from leaning on the door to turning around and opening the door to see the petite girl wearing blue winter pajamas with little buffamoos on them, along with little bottles of milk. Those certainly fitted her, she does love milk after all, and it wouldn't be surprising of her if she had pajamas with cats on them.

One thing though caught him by surprise, her twin messy braids where no place to be seen, and he saw her blond hair going past her shoulder. The other thing he noted was the blush on her face and the way she was fidgeting with her hands. He just stared at her, he was about to say something when the girl said, "Do you have to stare at me? It's making me embarrassed," she said that in a bit of a low tone.

He just smiled and turned his head to the side and gave her a sweet look and said, "I can't help myself, you look just so adorable right now. I feel like picking you up in my arms and taking you home with me."

He noted the blush on her face going a bit reader, "You think I look adorable?" she asked him. The last part sounded kind of creepy, it sounded like something a young girl would say towards some stuff animals or little kids, but she wouldn't say anything about that, he was probably just playing around.

"Yeah, you look really adorable, but you look adorable everyday. The thing I find really cute though is how embarrassed you look, plus having your hair down also helps you," he said to her, seeing her all red faced and fidgety makes him just want to hold her. That doesn't make him a pervert; it just shows how much he cares for her (I think)!

"I guess I'll take that as a complement," she said in a low tone while turning her head, so he thought she was cute everyday huh? Guess that's good thing, perhaps she has a chance with him! Or he just thinks of her as a sister; it's hard to tell, but if that was the case, that really sucks.

"Anyhow, get into bed and sleep, understand?" he spoke in a stern tone of voice, and he happened to be pointing at the bed, "Your job is to sleep and get back to 100 percent," he commanded like a mother-no, father!

"I know, I know," she said to him, turning her small body towards her bed and started to pull down the covers that where a simple light red color, and crawled into the bed. After making herself all nice and comfortable, she asked Raguna, "So what are you going to do?"

"Me? Well, I guess I'll go out for a bit and come back later," spoke Raguna, who paid close attention to the small, frail girl with her usual happy complexion distorted by a not so bad cold. Her eyes drooped a bit after he spoke; after a moment passed he said to her, "Or would you rather have me stay here with you till you fall asleep?" he asked. Yeah, it was like he was taking care of a sister, but for whatever reason, he found it hard just to see her as a younger sister compared to a-

"That would be nice," she said to him, her face picking up a bit, she looked a bit happier now. It would have been lonely if he would have left her by herself.

"Alright then, I'll be right back," he said and turned his body towards the door and walked out of the room. He walked over to the kitchen/dinning room and grabbed the closest chair, and began to pull it. His mind was busy thinking, maybe the way he was going on about his relationship with Anette was off, and just maybe, instead of a younger sister he saw her as something more.

He just opened the door with his free hand and walked over to the bed. He placed the chair so he could be facing her. He just sat down and stared to speak, "Do you want to hear about some of my little adventures? I have a lot of interesting stories I could tell you," was what he said to her. He reply was a simple nod of the head, and he began to talk about his beginning in Kardia and just how he came to know Mist.

* * *

It was later on that day when Mist finally reached her home, and noticed something was off about her home. One of her chairs where missing, was there a thief in the house? A furniture thief was something to be careful about, they could use the item they stole from you as a weapon and beat you with it, and Mist didn't think being hit with a chair sounded fun.

So, the odd girl came up with a plain, before the thief could attack her, she would just attack him instead! Though, was he still around? She looked around and saw the door, which lead to Anette's room was opened a bit, and she concluded he must have been in her room!

And so she walked over to where the kitchen was, and grabbed her weapon, if would defiantly scare anyone away, for a chair was no match for it! After she grabbed her weapon, she walked slowly over to where the door was and stopped. After taking a breath in, she opened the door and saw her chair, and the said thief sitting on it, and he was also leaning his face on the bed. Before she could really tell who it was, she threw her weapon at his head, and it smacked him right on his noggin.

"Ow, what was that," spoke the voice while raising his body from his resting position, and saw the item that hit him in the head, "A turnip?" and with that he turned his head to see just who he expected to see, "Mist, why did you throw a turnip at my head?" he asked her. It wasn't like he was mad or anything, he just wanted to know.

"Oh, it's just you Raguna," she said normally, "Why did you steal my chair? If you wanted to use it, you could have asked me."

"I was just borrowing it, I didn't steal Mist," he explained to her, "Anette didn't feel good, and she wanted me to stay with her until she fell asleep, and I didn't feel like standing, so I just borrowed one of your chairs," was borrowing a chair really that bad?

"Oh," she said, "I'm sorry for throwing my turnip at you," and after that she walked over to him and patted him on the head. She then turned her body to see a sound asleep Anette, "How is she?"

"Not that bad, Lara just said she needed some medicine and sleep, and then she would be back on her feet," he replied to her.

"I see," was all she said and went to pat Anette on the head, "I hope you feel better soon Anette," and after that she that, Mist began to walk off but before she was gone the last thing she said was, "Are you staying for dinner?"  
He just gave her a smile and said, "That would be nice."

* * *

It was later that night when Anette had finally woken up, and that was only due to a strong aroma that tickled her nose and woke her up. She just placed her feet on the ground and looked at the empty chair next to her, Raguna must have left; he did say he would stay till she fell asleep. Her face dropped a bit, she didn't even get to thank him for all the work he did for her.

With some disappointment, she walked slowly towards the kitchen while rubbing her eyes, she was expecting Mist to be making some sort of turnip dish and eating by herself with a bowl for her covered in plastic wrap. Though, that wasn't what she ended up seeing, for a cretin brunette was standing by the kitchen and instructing Mist, "Mist, now all you have to do is add the bread crumbs."

"Oh, this was easy to learn, thanks Raguna!" spoke Mist happily while adding the bread crumbs to whatever dish she was making, "And now you go in~" she said in a singsong voice while placing it into the oven.

"What are you two cooking?" she asked aloud, causing the two figures to turn around.

Raguna just walked over to her and asked, "Are you feeling any better Anette?" he asked her.

"Yeah, a little bit. What where you two making?" she answered and then asked to him. It's nice to know that he decided to stick around until she woke up, and even better he helped make dinner, he's such a sweet guy.

"Well that's good," he said smiling, "I just showed Mist how to make a carrot casserole, and it'll be done in a bit. For now, shall we eat our main dish?"  
"Huh, main?" she asked him while tilting her head, and before she could continue, Mist added in, "We also made some pasta carbonara, and it's already done."

"Hmm, sounds good, I need something in my stomach after all that sleep," and after that she happily walked over to the table.

Raguna just smiled, it was nice to have dinner with other people, for it was rather lonely when you ate by yourself.

* * *

And so, after a nice evening of eating and chatting, Raguna was standing outside of the home, with Mist and Anette standing inside and they where all saying their goodnights. Of course, Raguna decided to make sure that Anette took her medicine and that she was going back to bed after he left. She just said that she knew how to take care of herself, and didn't need him to constantly tell her what to do; she knew what she was to do!

After a small exchange, Raguna turned his back to the girl's and began to walk away when he felt someone pull on his arm, and he turned his head, "What is it Anette?"

"Well, I just wanted to say thanks for all that you did for me," was what she told him, her eyes moving between looking at him and the earth below them.

"No problem," was all he said back to her, "I would always help a friend in need if I had to, that's just the type of person that I am," yup, he wouldn't just let anyone he knew suffer if he could do something to prevent it.

He then turned his head upwards to look at the dark sky and little stars in the sky. In the city, one wouldn't be able to see stars like this, just don't ask why he knows this; he really doesn't have an answer.

"Um, Raguna?" mumbled Anette while trying to gain his attention back to her.

"Hmm?" he turned his head back down to face Anette and asked, "What is it?"

"I want to give you something as a token of appreciation," she said while fidgeting a bit, she can do this; she knows she can do it!

"No, you don't have to, I helped because I wanted to," was all he said, it's not like he did all of this just to get a reward, he did it cause he thought it was the right thing to do, "Well, goodnight," was all he said while turning his back to her once again and began to walk away, but he turned around after he heard her call out his name. He was going to say something to her, saying there was no need for such a thing, but before he could do anything, he noted the small figure going up to him. Her small face that still lacked its usual color had a tint of red to it, and as soon as she reached him, she stood up on her feet and quickly placed her lips to his face, now that caught him way off guard.

As quickly as it came, she pulled away and looked down at the ground and stammered, "Th-thank you very much for helping me Raguna!"

He just stared at the smaller figure, and then turned his head over to Mist who looked happy, he could just see her waving a little flag that would say, "Go Anette, go~!" Hmm, that would be something she would defiantly do. He then moved his face back down to the girl and said to her, "Your welcome, like I said, I would help anyone in need but," and before he continued a sly smirk appeared on his face and he moved closer to her and whispered into her ear, "I would come rushing to help you above anyone else in the whole village," and after he pulled away, the look on her face was just so cute, it was a mix of being surprised and ecstatic.

"Anyhow, I'll check up on you tomorrow, so make sure to take care of yourself," and with that he turned around and began to walk away, and he heard her retort of, "Don't worry." He just continued to walk his way home while thinking, _"Maybe I will consider her as a candidate of being more than friends,"_ and that cause him to smile to himself. Even thought the day started off as a pain, it ended in a good way; maybe the sky wasn't mocking him, but helping him to truly understand his feelings for a cretin person. The only thing that lingered on his mind was, _"Now where am I going to find her hat and goggles? They have to turn up somewhere."_

The End

* * *

**And that takes care of that! I finally managed to finish this! Though, it's much longer than I expected but oh well, it just goes to show all the effort I put into this little project! Ahh, I feel happy that I finally managed to do a Raguna/Anette fic, since she's one of my favorites. Well, I hope that you enjoyed this fic, I think I did a decent job at it, maybe not the best but good enough, I hope you review to tell me what you thought of this! *Hears a lot of thunder* good thing I got this done, anyhow do you people want to see a sequel in which Raguna tries to find Anette's stuff? Or something where he gives them some cooking lesson? *Hears a lot more thunder and crap load of rain* gah, anyhow, hope you liked this! **


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